8,900 New Yorkers have had their driver licenses suspended for failing to pay taxes they owe the state.
State officials said the crackdown is the result of legislation signed into law last year aimed at pushing people who owe more than $10,000 in back taxes to settle their bills with the Tax Department.
More than 7 percent of those scofflaws-sans-licenses live in Putnam, Rockland and Westchester counties, according to The Journal News; many are from Mount Vernon, New Rochelle and Nyack.
“Driver licenses are a privilege, not a right, and this program has prompted unprecedented action from tax delinquents who were otherwise ignoring their debt,” said Commissioner Thomas H. Mattox in a press release. “Thousands have contacted us to do the right thing – pay their tax bills in full, or work with us to arrange a payment plan that satisfies the debt. Those who continued to ignore their debt have had their licenses suspended.”
As a result of the program, tax collections increased nearly $56.4 million on a state and local basis – a 34 percent increase over the initial estimate of $42 million, state officials said.
Do you think the state should leverage driving privileges for unrelated issues?
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